


Welcome to Valhalla Academy

by omaidoggo



Series: The Valhalla Academy AU [1]
Category: ONEUS (Band), ONEWE (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Anxiety Attacks, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Military Academy, Minor Violence, No Plot/Plotless, Past Character Death, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-08-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:27:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25907305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/omaidoggo/pseuds/omaidoggo
Summary: The moment Dongju set foot on the rainbow he knew he was taking a step in the right direction.Son Dongju and his twin Son Dongmyeong are new students at the mythical and mysterious Valhalla Academy, the training grounds for Einherjar, which are selected by the equally mythical and mysterious entity known as the Valkyrie. Today is their move-in day, and who knows what awaits them at the end of the rainbow?An introductory work to an AU inspired by ONEUS's debut title track, Valkyrie.
Relationships: Lee Giwook | CyA & Son Dongju | Xion, Lee Giwook | Cya & Son Dongmyeong, Son Dongju | Xion & ONEUS Ensemble, Son Dongju | Xion & Son Dongmyeong
Series: The Valhalla Academy AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1880152
Comments: 2
Kudos: 28





	Welcome to Valhalla Academy

**Author's Note:**

> Hi.  
> I literally wrote this after the ONEUS and Monsta X Weekly Idol episode while waiting for the comeback, and after seeing their stage outfits on that episode I realized their stage outfits gave me military/battle school uniform vibes so here we are with a fantasy-esque AU derived from a single song, its MV, and its choreo.
> 
> As stated in the summary, this is an introductory work to this AU. I don't exactly know where I wanna take this, only that I have a few character hooks (which are hopefully sprinkled through this), a potential plot, and this interesting mix between BNHA, RWBY, and KagePro in terms of worldbuilding. Please enjoy this while we wait for the comeback!

The moment Dongju set foot on the rainbow he knew he was taking a step in the right direction. It was right enough for him to know Dongmyeong was grinning from ear to ear without even glancing, and right enough that it had brought Dongmyeong here, back at his side.

“Dongju! We’re walking! On  _ light _ !”

“I know.”

And he didn’t mean it sarcastically either. It was one thing to see gleaming spikes pierce through metal and stone, another to walk on the sunlight itself as it graced the entrance to perhaps the most prestigious, enigmatic school in existence.

“Ah, isn’t this incredible?” Dongmyeong said, practically skipping over the soft, burning spectra at their feet. Almost as quickly as he’d travelled across the bridge, he popped up next to the towering pillars of cloud, shining as brightly as the sun. Dongju couldn’t help but grin, pulling out his phone.

“Stay there! I’m sending a picture to Mom.”

“You’re acting just like her already!” he cried through maintaining a V-pose with his arms. Dongju’s grin turned to a smirk.

“Smiiiiiiiile!”

They stepped through the gate of clouds into a blinding ray of light, and for a brief moment Dongju thought he was being greeted by the Valkyrie again. Then the light gave way.

Rolling fields of grass and poppies stretched across his sight, cut only by wide, dirt paths lined with cobble and runestones. The diverging paths to the side led to what he could only guess were more fields, transforming into forests, and then the mountains that he saw peeking in his periphery.

But in front of him, the pristine walls of the Academy stood reaching toward the heavens. The white walls jutted out from the base of the mountain, the rest carved into the white rock of the cliffs. Towers and spires emerged, bringing order to the irregularity of the tall peaks, crowning the ethereal space known as Valhalla Academy.

“It’s…”

“I know,” Dongju muttered, breathless. He shook his head. “But those towers are gonna be a pain to climb.”

Dongmyeong kicked at the ground.

“I know right? I really hope we don’t have classes there.”

“Or even worse,  _ dorms _ .”

They looked at each other, shivered, and laughed.

Dongju waited as Dongmyeong scanned their admittance letter for some detail as to where they should be going. The campus was -- despite and probably befitting its grandeur -- impossibly large, and it was better to take time to get some sense of direction before wandering off than realizing they were going the wrong way the entire time and have to make a trek to their actual destination.

“Did you find it yet?”

“Ehh… I guess? It just says to go to the main hall.”

Dongju pointed at the fortress in front of them.

“It’s this one, right?”

“No way it’s not.”

“Well if it’s not, I’m gonna be pissed.”

Dongmyeong laughed. He lunged at Dongju, squishing his cheeks between his hands.

“Aww, baby Dongju’s gonna throw a fit!”

He slapped his wrists and pulled his hands off with a pout, which only prompted more laughter from Dongmyeong before they broke out into a squabble and somehow reigned themselves together enough to start -- arm in arm -- toward the main hall.

As they entered the main hall, the thing that surprised them most wasn’t the chandelier or the statues or even how the walls seemed to be impossibly luminous. Instead, it was a person, a boy their age with wild waves, slouching with his hands in the pockets of his oversized jacket, examining the space around him with wide, curious, and most of all critical eyes.

“Giwook?”

He jumped at the name and quickly turned around to find the source. His eyes locked with theirs, and his characteristic small grin spread over his face.

“Dongmyeong! Dongju! Hey!”

Dongmyeong bolted over and immediately wrapped him in a big hug. Giwook patted his back, waving at Dongju. Almost as quickly as he’d hugged him, Dongmyeong pushed him away, holding onto his shoulders as he examined his face.

“I didn’t think I’d-”

“Yeah… I only held out a  _ little _ longer than you,” Giwook replied, scratching the back of his neck. “To be honest, I really didn’t expect any of us to survive. Now...”

He pointed at Dongju.

“You,” he started, “are quite the trooper.”

“Haha, I guess so,” Dongju replied as he joined their makeshift reunion, finding their arms quickly wrapped around his shoulders as his arms settled on theirs. Suddenly his chest felt heavy and his eyes were wet and the air felt bittersweet as the memory of that night hung between them. He could feel them shaking underneath the silence, but it was okay. They were together -- that’s what mattered.

Footsteps drew their attention from the ground to… wherever the sound was coming from. They quickly wiped the  _ perspiration _ from their eyes and straightened their backs to greet the… one… two… three figures coming from deeper within the main hall. Dongju bit his lip. He could feel the others tensing too as the figures emerged from the shadows.

The first to catch his eye was the man cloaked in black feathers. Strays flew off as they receded into his shoulders and gave way to one of the variations of the Academy’s uniforms: a simple teal jacket with golden trims and buttons thrown over a collared shirt with a black tie. Black bangs fell to his brow, leaving just enough room for his dark, piercing eyes to peek under. He stopped a comfortable distance between them, the other two following pace, and raised his chin.

“Are you the new recruits?”

The three of them looked at each other before Dongmyeong answered with a shaky “yes.” The man in black smiled and clapped his hands together.

“Perfect. Welcome to Valhalla Academy, training ground for the new Einherjar. Congratulations on being selected by the Valkyrie.”

The way his soft, warm voice said her name carried something else that Dongju couldn’t quite put his finger on. He supposed the closest word to describe it would be fondness, though even that wasn’t nuanced enough. Just as he was about to dive back into his mind to analyze his words, he felt the man’s gaze on him as he stepped closer. Dongju turned his head away slightly. The man put out his hand.

“I’m Ravn. I’m assuming you’re Xion?”

“Yes I am,” he replied, though he wondered how Ravn knew who he was even before introductions. He took his hand, and the two exchanged bows. “Very nice to meet you, Ravn-ssi.”

“The pleasure’s all mine. You can call me hyung,” Ravn said. The warm timbre of his voice was genuine, that much Dongju could tell, and the warmth spread to his eyes as well, curving ever so slightly with his smile. The tension left his chest as Ravn turned to Dongmyeong and Giwook, gesturing at the other two men behind him dressed in uniform as well. Dongju narrowed his eyes -- why did they seem familiar? One’s thick eyebrows, long face, the other with wide, intense eyes… And they seemed to recognize them too, some sort of excitement brimming under their polite facades.

“Harin, Kanghyun, please introduce yourselves. I’ll be showing Dongju around.”

The two nodded curtly, and before Dongju could see how the two quiet souls would greet Dongmyeong and Giwook, Ravn was already ushering him deeper into the halls.

Ravn’s campus tour was actually fun, surprisingly. Dongju had found his awe had worn off after one or two locations, yet Ravn found a way to interject wonder and even sentiment into each place through overly dramatic descriptions that were clearly tongue-in-cheek, and even anecdotes that brought a bit of humanity into the stone walls. The warmth of his voice certainly helped Dongju adjust to the new environment -- that, combined with a few instances of arm-linking and hand-holding and quickly Dongju found himself comfortable in his care. Ravn’s gentle smile helped too, he supposed.

“And these,” Ravn said, sweeping an arm towards the building behind them, “are the Bifrost Dorms.”

Dongju squinted to find what exactly Ravn was pointing to, until his eye caught several wooden posts poking out from beneath some hills -- or at least what  _ looked _ like hills. Stones lined the base of the longhouses, the grass on what he realized was the roof occasionally spilling over the sides. If it hadn’t been for the wood posts at the gate of what he realized was a yard, he hardly would have realized there were houses at all. Ravn waved a hand.

“C’mon.”

Down the path, through the wooden entrance, they walked into the dorms. Dongju furrowed his brows at the bags in the corner.

“When did my luggage get here?”

“We moved it,” Ravn replied, a small yet proud smile on his lips. “We, as in me and your hyungs.”

“My hyungs?”

His eyes widened. As some sort of realization dawned on him, he buried his face in his hands, groaning. Dongju pat his back.

“It’s okay, Ravn-hyung.”

“I can’t believe I forgot to tell you!” he said, face still down.

“Lemme guess,” Dongju said, “You’re just as nervous as me?”

Ravn finally looked up, nodding a little sheepishly. Dongju pat him again.

“At least that makes two of us.”

“I know… I just… I just wanted to be a cool hyung I guess.”

“Well, you accomplished that much.”

“Really?”

“Pretty well,” Dongju added with a nod, and Ravn turned away to chuckle.

“What a charmer.”

He turned back and straightened his shoulders, his characteristic coolness back in his stature and smile.

“I’m Ravn-hyung, your team leader! Kinda… not really. There’s four other guys on the team, but I’m not really sure where they are.”

He waved behind him.

“Please, make yourself at home. I’ll find your hyungs, I  _ promise _ .”

Dongju walked through the door, taking in the rustic environment. Ravn put a hand on his shoulder.

“Oh, and don’t touch anything in the fridge please.”

Dongju spent the rest of the afternoon unpacking, arranging, and scrolling through his phone with surprisingly good wifi (was this heaven?). He had paced through the longhouse several times already, though after some research he realized longhouse wasn’t the best way to describe it.  _ Cottage _ seemed like the more appropriate word, seeing as how the house was actually divided into rooms. There was the living room and the kitchen flanking the entrance, a single bathroom down the hallway, positioned straight across from the two bedrooms. He guessed he was sharing a room with the younger two in the team -- and their room decor was very… telling.

(He really had tried his best not to disturb the pile of glued together pasta, he promised.)

He walked into the kitchen, still finding the sudden transition into a dark wood floor jarring, carrying the pot he had packed along with a pack of ramyeon. Ravn  _ had _ told him to make himself at home, and ramyeon was definitely one way of doing it.

He set the pot of water on the dark stovetop and switched it on. He leaned back onto the cold, granite countertop and began to scroll through his feed for the umpteenth time when he heard voices clamoring outside. They were getting louder and louder-

“Woongie! The macaroni statue!”

“I told you to throw it out last night but did you listen to me?!”

“I was going to, I swear!”

A tall, lanky boy stumbled through the door, a short boy prancing around him as he practically flew into Dongju’s-  _ their _ room. Something fluttered in his chest, threatening to break out and perhaps humiliate someone -- he bit his lip, trying his best not to smile.

The taller boy noticed though. He waved.

“Hi! Are you our new teammate?”

Normally, Dongju would’ve replied with a smooth “Yes I am~” but considering the current situation they all found themselves in, he simply nodded. The boy -- his  _ roommate  _ \-- clapped his hands together… and Dongju realized it was to a rhythm.

“Woongie! Get over here!”

“I can hear you, just start without me!”

His tall roommate breathed in deeply.

“Coooooooooongratulations!” he whooped. Congratulations song? He guessed he could take it.

“Stop stop stop!” his other roommate called, holding a finger to his temple as he emerged from the room, the  _ levitating _ macaroni statue following soon after. His eyes didn’t budge from the object as he called out. “There’s nothing to congratulate him for!”

The taller roommate paused briefly, face blank, before his grin and the clapping came back.

“Welcome!~ Welcome!~”

He stepped back as the macaroni statue passed between them and out the door, plopping down with a thud onto the grass outside. The shorter roommate sighed, clapping. Soon enough, the makeshift welcome song ended with a holler, and he bowed with fairy-like grace.

“Welcome, welcome to the Bifrost Dorms,” he said with a flourish of his hands, “I am Hwanwoong, may I ask your name?”

Dongju shoved his laugh down his throat with an “ahem.”

“I’m Xion. Very nice to meet you, Hwanwoong-ssi.”

“Aww, look how polite he is! And so cold,” the tall one exclaimed, hands on his chest. Whatever grace Hwanwoong had managed to accumulate suddenly dissipated as he took him by the arm and shook him.

“C’mon, introduce yourself already!”

“I was getting to it!” he said, slapping Hwanwoong’s hand. He turned back to Dongju. “I’m Keonhee! Please call me hyung.”

“Nice to meet you too, Keonhee-hyung~” Dongju said, though his attention quickly turned back to the water that had just begun the boil. Working his way through all the packaging, he heard Hwanwoong and Keonhee shuffle back out, then the rustling of plastic bags. They came up behind him, Keonhee setting some bags on the counter while Hwanwoong hurried over to the freezer with what looked like tubs of ice cream.

“You’re lucky we just came back from grocery shopping,” Keonhee said. He pulled out some sausage. “Ramyeon is  _ so much better _ with snacks.”

Dongju smiled, taking the sausage.

“Thank you hyung.”

“You can call me hyung too!” Hwanwoong suddenly whined. Dongju turned to him.

“Contribute something to my ramyeon and maybe I will.”

A playful groan, some rummaging, and lots of laughter later, the three ended up making more than a few packs of ramyeon and a mess in the kitchen which they swore they’d clean up later, or at least before the hyungs got back. They went outside to properly dispose of the macaroni statue, and soon afterwards they were back in the dorm, chatting away about their day, their lives, and what exactly was up with the macaroni statue in the first place. (Long story short, dinner plans failed. Miserably.)

They later found themselves playing UNO on the living room floor. Dongju found it unexpected, but hey, it wasn’t the most unpredictable thing to have happened in the past 24 hours, or even in the past 2 weeks. Soon, Dongju was talking about the campus tour he got before coming to the dorms.

“Ravn didn’t show you the training grounds?!” Keonhee asked, near indignant. 

“Nope,” Dongju replied, absently plopping a yellow card on top of the UNO pile. Keonhee pouted, mumbling as he drew from the deck.

“He’s kind absent-minded like that, isn’t he?” Hwanwoong said, smirking as he played down another yellow card. “He just thinks about how cool he looks and forgets about the big picture.”

Dongju chuckled.

“I guess. He made a cool entrance and everything but forgot to tell me we were on a team.”

His roomates cackled at the revelation, their laughter only growing as Dongju drew from the deck as well. Keonhee matched the number, color changing to blue, and looked over to him.

“You know, we could catch our hyungs practicing there now if you really wanted to.”

“Let’s be real, does he have a choice?” Hwanwoong asked, playing his cards and clearly not expecting an answer.

“I have a feeling you’re gonna take me there anyway,” Dongju said. He set down a draw-two card, and looked to Keonhee. “Can you stack?”

“And risk Hwanwoong scolding me later?” he asked. “Definitely.”

“Joke’s on you, I have one too!”

Hwanwoong threw down another draw-two on top of Keonhee’s and looked over at Dongju with wide, anxious eyes, biting his lip as Dongju played another draw-two. Dongju smiled.

“Keonhee?”

Keonhee grinned, stacking a draw-four on top. He looked at Hwanwoong.

“Enjoy your full hand.”

Hwanwoong stared at the pile, red-faced and biting his lip as suddenly the cards flew towards Keonhee’s face. Keonhee yelped, disappearing as the cards hit empty air -- and came back in a blink. Dongju started to slowly scoot away, and he would have stood up and ran if Hwanwoong hadn’t suddenly grabbed his leg.

“We’re going  _ NOW. _ ”

Little fairy Hwanwoong -- who would have thought he could drag two guys across campus? The telekinesis helped he guessed, but as far as Dongju could tell, most of the pulling and nagging was accomplished by sheer strength. That wasn’t even mentioning how angry he was, even if it was just a joke. Actually, he couldn’t tell if it was a joke at this point, but surely it had to be? Right?

“Alright newbie,” Hwanwoong said, shoving him and Keonhee through the gates. “Watch me  _ destroy _ your hyung.”

“But Xion started it!” Keonhee said with a laugh and a point. Dongju scoffed.

“I thought you were on my side.”

“Don’t worry, unlike this degenerate, I have standards,” Hwanwoong said, hand placed delicately on his chest. He glanced at Dongju. “You get away,  _ this time _ .”

Dongju grabbed one of the chairs from the stack and set it down next to the training plot his hyungs had arbitrarily claimed to be the best one. He didn’t see how it was different from the rest of the plots: it was the same, spacious dirt plot with the same wooden fence as all the other plots, but considering the macaroni statue from earlier, he decided not to question it.

They finally emerged from the lodge he assumed to be the locker rooms, strapped in armored vests, wearing helmets, and carrying spears. They jumped the fence, taking their spots on opposite sides of the plot.

“Watch closely, Xion!” Hwanwoong called. “Or you might miss-”

Keonhee blinked behind him, shoving him to the ground, tip of the spear at his throat. Well, that certainly was quick.

“Not fair!”

“Then don’t monologue!”

A glittering spike shot up from the ground. Keonhee rolled to his side as another rose between him and Hwanwoong. Hwanwoong jumped to his feet.

Keonhee appeared behind him only for another spike to block him. Hwanwoong side-stepped and thrust his spear, knocking Keonhee to the ground. This time, Hwanwoong held the spear at his throat. He looked up at Dongju.

“See? Easy-peasy.”

“Woongie, get off me,” Keonhee groaned. Dongju could practically feel Hwanwoong rolling his eyes as he took the spear away and helped Keonhee up. He got out of his seat and started making his way to the fence-

The dirt flew. They all stumbled backwards as smoke rose from the impacted ground. Dongju squeezed his eyes shut, his ears beginning to ring and his heart racing. Wind rushed past -- he shielded his face with his arms. Hwanwoong called out, and he glanced to see him pointing at the sky.

“Look! Our hyungs!”

A winged man barreled towards one of many white-clad men, wielding shields, dotting the sky. He spun around and shot a streak of fire across the air as his initial target dissipated. The man in white ripped the spark from its path and threw it back. He dodged, swooping down.

“Did you see that?” Hwanwoong exclaimed, clapping his hands. Keonhee whooped, the wind from the winged man’s descent knocking them down as he spread his wings and rose, spear outstretched.

The man in white dodged to the side -- and fell as the winged man rolled onto his shoulders and shoved him toward the ground. He twisted in the air, rolling onto the plot next to theirs and getting back onto his feet just in time to raise his shield against the winged man’s dive.

He bounced off the shield, landing on his back as his wings retreated into his shoulders. The man in white fared no better, getting knocked back down onto the soft dirt, left panting from the extended exertion in the sky and the sudden show of strength on ground. It took awhile for him to get back up, but when he did, he did so without a complaint. He ran to the winged man, still on the ground breathing heavily, and offered a hand. The winged man pushed it away and got up on his own, dragging the spear behind him toward the locker room as the man in white stood looking on.

“Seoho-hyung!” Hwanwoong called, waving. The man in white -- Seoho, Dongju guessed -- turned around, obviously surprised. It quickly faded away, and his eyes formed crescents as he smiled brightly. He walked towards them, arms open as they ran to him.

“Woongie! Keonhee! Come to watch me train?”

“You were so cool!” Keonhee exclaimed, obviously paying no mind to the question. “The way you dodged everything and you were like ‘woah!’ and Leedo was like ‘AGH!’ and then you BLOCKED HIS DIVE like how?!”

Seoho scratched the back of his head.

“I mean, he  _ did _ knock me down pretty hard.”

He rolled his head around, the evening sunlight shimmering in his bleach blonde hair, and stretched his shoulders. His eyes suddenly caught onto Dongju, who, despite wanting to get closer just couldn’t bring himself to close anymore distance between him and the rest of his team. But suddenly Seoho was walking toward him, his smile a bit more warm than bright and his eyes filling with some sort of softness, an awareness so to speak.

“You’re the new member?”

Dongju cleared his throat.

“Yes, yes I am.”

Seoho held out his hand, grinning now.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Lee Seoho, I’ll be your hyung from now on.”

“Son Dongju- ah, I mean Xion,” he replied, taking his hand and shaking it. Seoho bowed his head, laughing, though softly.

“It takes some time to get used to a new name, huh?” he whispered. Dongju nearly stepped back.

“I guess.”

The bright smile returned as his hyung looked him in the eye, patting his shoulder.

“Relax. We don’t always fight like that.”

“I know,” Dongju replied, though he guessed he must have taken a nervous glance at the locker room since Seoho chuckled.

“Ah, Leedo’s scary at first glance doesn’t he? Don’t worry, he’s just a puppy when everything’s said and done.”

Dongju nodded, though he couldn’t shake the tension he felt in his muscles, in his jaw, especially as Leedo came back out the locker room with… was that Ravn? He waved.

“Ravn-hyung!”

Ravn waved back. Seoho turned around, smiling and waving as he caught his friends in view. The younger members flocked behind him as he passed, and soon all of them were in one place together. Ravn smiled at Dongju.

“Ah, Xion! See, I found your hyungs!”

“Thank you,” Dongju said, chuckling as he tilted his head toward Hwanwoong and Keonhee. “Though, I think those two found me.”

“Ravn-hyung~ I still can’t believe you didn’t show him the _training_ _grounds_ of all places,” Hwanwoong said, slapping his arm. “I had to lose a game of UNO to get them here!”

“We were gonna go anyway, you just happened to draw 12 before you rage quit,” Keonhee corrected. Hwanwoong raised a hand, sending Keonhee into a panic as he hid behind who Dongju could only assume was Leedo. The elder shook his head, turning away as Ravn showered Hwanwoong in hugs, and suddenly Dongju found at the receiving end of a surprised look.

As the others moved to torment a squirming, screaming Hwanwoong, Leedo stayed put, looking at the ground… sheepishly? Surprisingly so -- from the way he’d fought so fiercely, Dongju would have never expected him to be so shy. The way he looked at him too with his dark, warm eyes, was he scared? What was he scared of? If anything, Dongju was the one who should be scared -- he was a senior, a more than capable fighter… an Einherjar who could… fire...

Leedo cleared his throat.

“Uh, hi.”

His voice was so  _ deep _ , and the slight husk in its timbre made him sound so soft, and suddenly Dongju realized what he was so afraid of. He swallowed the lump in his throat, mustered a smile, and waved.

“Hello.”

“I’m… You’re the new team member?”

“Yes I am~” he said, glad this was probably his last time having to answer this question. Leedo nodded, a silent “I see” accompanying it as he slowly shuffled toward him. He lifted a hand.

“Leedo.”

“Xion,” he replied, shaking his hand. He almost winced as he did so, but wondered what exactly he was expecting: his hand to suddenly burst into flames? Like Seoho said, Leedo really was a puppy.

“Everyone!” Ravn suddenly called, “It’s getting late and I don’t think any of us want to get in trouble for being out past curfew, am I right?”

“And?” Seoho prodded.

“I think we should go back to the dorms and give our new teammate a  _ proper _ welcome.”

The six members made their way back to the dorm, laughing, smiling, and Dongju was almost taken aback at how easy it was to laugh and smile with them. Even with everyone though, he still found himself wondering what Dongmyeong was doing, if he and Giwook were having fun, if they felt at home with their new team, if Dongmyeong was thinking of him and maybe even wishing they could’ve been together in the same team.

When they actually got back to the dorms, he saw four guys lounging on a blanket in the courtyard, chatting away even louder than his own team was. Someone laughed, and Dongju caught the sunshine in its tone. His eyes widened -- and he broke away from his team, sprinting to the yard.

“Dongmyeong!”

Dongmyeong’s head snapped around to his name. Dongju ran, arms wide open, and soon a grin just as wide, just as bright spread over Dongmyeong’s face.

“Dongju!”

He fell into him, knocking him down onto the blanket, rolling onto the grass as his arms wrapped around his brother, his twin brother. They laughed into each other, and soon they heard the others laughing with them as Giwook called out “DOGPILE!” and suddenly everyone was piled on each other and he couldn’t breathe from laughing and getting crushed at the same time. But it was okay. Everything was fine, everything was okay -- everything was like sunshine.

They all rolled off each other, splaying out on the grass, laughing into the twilit sky. It took awhile for their sides to stop hurting so much, and in the small gap between laughs, one of Dongmyeong’s team members -- the tallest one -- turned to Dongju.

“Dongju! Heard a lot about you in the past 12 hours.”

“Ah, really?” he replied, turning to Dongmyeong, “Been that chatty, huh?”

“All good things,” his teammate assured. He reached his hand over Giwook, to Dongju. “I’m Harin.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“Hyungu, where are you?” Giwook called, craning his neck. The last member perked up, raising his hand before nodding and reaching over Dongmyeong toward Dongju.

“Kanghyun.”

“Dongju. Nice to meet you too,” Dongju said, crossing his arms to shake both Harin and Kanghyun’s hands at the same time. They started laughing all over again, getting up and back onto the blanket before any bugs could bite them (though the chances of not being bitten at this point was pretty low).

“I still can’t believe you guys are here,” Dongmyeong said, happily sighing. “I thought you guys just moved out or something after graduation.”

“In a way, we kinda did,” Harin replied.

“Ah, Dongju!” Dongmyeong said, panicking, like he had forgotten something. “I forgot! These are the seniors we met in high school, remember?”

So that’s why they looked familiar. He had met them, but that was as far as their acquaintance-ship had gone, and there hadn’t been much time between when they’d met and when they had graduated. Dongju smiled, nonetheless, nodding.

“I see. Well then, nice to see you again.”

“So how do you like Ravn-hyung?” Harin asked. Dongju shrugged.

“He’s cool, I guess.”

“Oooh, so icy,” Dongmyeong teased. Dongju shoved him down, earning a yelp in return.

“Speaking of which,” Giwook began, “Where’s your team?”

“Ah, I guess they went in without me,” Dongju said, looking toward his building. “I guess I should follow them, right?”

“Hey, hey,” Kanghyun suddenly said as he put down his phone, “Stay with us. I’m sure you wanna spend more time with your brother. Besides, we live in the dorm next door, so it won’t be too much of a walk back.”

“Ah, that’d be amazing!” Dongmyeong exclaimed, hugging Dongju. “You’ll stay for a little longer, right?”

“I’m guessing I don’t have a choice anymore.”

Dongmyeong pouted, Dongju smiling at his small victory. Giwook tapped Dongmyeong on the arm.

“How’s the cold breeze feeling?”

“Horrible.”

“And it’s cold in more ways than one. Let’s go inside,” Kanghyun suggested, getting up, and soon they were wrapping up the blanket and making their way toward their dorm.

_ Woong-hyung: _

_ Xionie, are you at your hyung’s dorm? _

_ Yeah, why? _

_ Woong-hyung: _

_ It’s just getting a little late, not like we’re worried or anything _

_ Suuuure _

_ Woong-hyung: _

_ But really, are you coming back soon? _

_ I guess if you really miss me~ _

_ Woong-hyung: _

_ Come back baby maknae~ _

_ Cringe but fine _

The walk back to his dorm was short (it really was just the building next door), but even then, he couldn’t help but linger outside a bit longer. It was just so… quiet, peaceful. The glowing fireflies and runestones casting blue onto the pathways, the crickets singing into the crisp, chill air, the grass that grew, this place that seemed locked in perpetual spring, leaving behind the winter in the city -- could it be real? Surely, he was in heaven?

He had died, after all -- everyone here had died.

That was what it took to become an Einherjar, to see the Valkyrie, be graced by her light. And despite the Einherjar he had seen in his day to day life, whether in dramas or in the city turning back whatever mythical creature had decided to rear its ugly head toward humanity, the entire thing didn’t feel quite real. But here he was, in Valhalla Academy, the latest of the dead to be selected for reasons he didn’t know or maybe just couldn’t comprehend.

“Xion!”

He turned around to see Leedo at the door. Leedo waved toward the entrance.

“Come inside, you’re going to catch a cold out there.”

“I’m coming,” he called, casting one more glance toward the fields, and bowing into the dorm.

Which he hadn’t expected to be decorated with streamers, balloons, and cartoon drawings.

“Welcome!~ Welcome!~”

And there was Keonhee again, clapping as he whooped his welcoming song, this time with Hwanwoong and Seoho singing along as they brought out ice cream he’d seen earlier. He looked at Ravn -- he smiled and winked.

“Welcome Xionie!” Keonhee exclaimed, practically tackling him as he hugged him.

“Hyung…”

“Ah, Xion, don’t worry about it,” Seoho said, setting down the ice cream on the table. “We’ve been planning this since we heard.”

“And we know how hard it can be… adjusting,” Ravn added, “We just wanted to make sure you felt at home, or at least comfortable.”

“You guys…”

But before Dongju could say anything more, all his hyungs were wrapping their arms around him in one big group hug. At that moment, he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. All he could do was yell “thank you!” at the top of his lungs.

Thank you to Ravn, thank you to his hyungs, thank you to whatever higher being placed him with them.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading through this! I'm still figuring out how AO3 works, and I haven't written fanfic in like, years, so uh thank you for being patient through any mistakes in grammar, writing, etc. Also, characterization is hard... like extremely hard so thank you for bearing that too.
> 
> ALSO I promise Yonghoon will make it in. You'll just have to wait for his introduction hehe.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy this AU! Thank you again for reading!


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